1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a binary code symbol for non-linear strain measurement. More specifically, the invention relates to an augmented binary code symbol for non-linear strain measurement that constitutes an improvement over the binary code symbol that is the subject of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/167,558, filed Jun. 28, 2005.
2. Related Art
Co-pending U.S. Published Application No. 2006-0289652-A1 (Application Ser. No. 11/167,558, filed Jun. 28, 2005), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, is directed to a rectangular binary code symbol for non-linear strain measurement comprising a solid, continuous perimeter, first and second data regions along adjacent sides of the perimeter, first and second utility regions along adjacent sides of the perimeter opposite the first and second data regions, first and second finder cells at opposite corners of the rectangle, and inner and outer quiet regions distinguishing the first and second data regions, the first and second utility regions, and the first and second finder cells from their background. Each data region comprises a number of data cells, each data cell representing a single bit of binary data; and each utility region comprises a number of utility cells of alternating appearance.
The binary code symbol disclosed in U.S. Published Application No. 2006-0289652-A1 has a number of advantages, including that it has a unique geometry and attributes; it provides a binary code symbol for non-linear strain measurement having features that enhance deformation and strain measurement; it provides a binary code symbol for non-linear strain measurement that is designed specifically for perimeter-based deformation and strain analysis; it provides a perimeter strain analysis method for use with a binary code symbol for non-linear strain measurement; it provides a binary code symbol for non-linear strain measurement with near-perimeter data encoding; and it provides a binary code symbol for non-linear strain measurement that can encode a range of data values using an error-correcting code (“ECC”) technique.
However, the amount of data that can be encoded into the binary code symbol is limited by the space available in the perimeter of the binary code symbol.
It is to the solution of this and other problems that the present invention is directed.